About this ReportIn May 2014, Bizo, in association with Oracle Marketing Cloud, surveyed

more than 500 business executives about their companies’ lead nurturing

challenges and strategies. The survey revealed that, even as the importance

of marketing’s role has grown, many organizations are still struggling to

develop comprehensive, multi-channel lead nurturing programs, and that

tremendous opportunities lie ahead.

All statistics mentioned in this report were taken from the 2014 survey

unless otherwise noted.

Key findings include:

Marketing organizations are increasingly responsible for

contributing to the sales pipeline with nearly 60 percent of

marketers reporting they are delivering at least 20 percent of

B2B company revenues, and almost 25 percent contributing more

than 40 percent.

B2B companies are making significant investments in lead

nurturing programs. A testament to the growing number of resources

dedicated to lead nurturing, more than a third of marketers claim that

less than 25 percent of budget goes toward prospecting new leads

versus nurturing existing ones.

Email marketing is widely used, but does not reach a significant

proportion of known contacts. On average, 79 percent of marketers

say their email open rates don’t exceed 20 percent.

Less than 5 percent of anonymous website visitors fill out contact

forms on business websites.

Marketers are expanding their use of marketing automation

platforms. Nearly three-quarters of marketers are currently using

marketing automation solutions, and 82 percent plan to maintain or

increase their investment in marketing automation over the second

half of 2014.

In order to help fill the sales pipeline, marketing must embrace

a truly multi-channel lead nurturing strategy that goes beyond

traditional email marketing strategies.

Introduction: Today’s B2B Lead Nurturing ChallengeIn the modern business landscape, B2B marketers are facing significant

hurdles in the process of nurturing prospective customers through the

buying process.

The growth of digital media has led to a dramatic shift in the way that

companies research and choose solutions for their businesses. Today’s

prospects are taking advantage of the wealth of information available

online from both industry and social media sources to research and evaluate

vendor solutions in great depth—without engaging with each vendor’s sales

team until they have ostensibly made their decisions. In fact, Forrester found

that in many cases, the B2B buyer’s journey is 90 percent complete by the

time she contacts a vendor’s sales department.1 In turn, this has led B2B

marketers to evolve their strategies in order to effectively reach, engage,

and ultimately convert their target audiences.

Add to this another significant problem that many marketers face today—

the ever-lengthening B2B buyer’s journey. Close to half of marketers believe

that the time from lead to conversion had lengthened over the past three

years.2

It is now the responsibility of the marketer to connect as early as possible

in the buying cycle and drive revenue for the company. The marketer’s role

1 Forrester Blog. http://blogs.forrester.com/lori_wizdo/12-10-04-buyer_behavior_helps_b2b_marketers_guide_the_buyers_journey

2 “The Evolving B2B Purchase Process,” BtoB Magazine, April 2013.

is crucial to a B2B company’s bottom line: nearly 60 percent of marketers

reporting they are delivering at least 20 percent of B2B company revenues,

and almost 25 percent contributing more than 40 percent.

Marketers must now not only build initial awareness of a brand, but also

continue leading qualified prospects through the marketing funnel until

they are finally ready to engage with the sales team. In order to do this

effectively, marketers need to develop intelligent strategies for lead

nurturing—a process in which they must continually engage and educate

prospects with timely, highly targeted content across various mediums until

these prospects are ready to buy.

Currently, 94 percent of marketers say they have some form of lead

nurturing program in place and 36 percent of marketers claim that less than

a quarter of their budget goes toward prospecting new leads -- a strong

indicator that lead nurturing has also secured a place for itself in the modern

marketer’s budget.

Less than 20 percent

20-40percent

40-60percent

More than 60 percent

Not sure

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

19%

35%

18%

23%

5%

Question: What percentage of your company’s overall revenue goal is marketing-sourced revenue?

Question: How important is lead nurturing to your marketing efforts?

When it comes to being truly sophisticated with B2B nurturing strategies,

the experiences of today’s companies range quite a bit. Forty-six percent

of mid-size companies (100-500 employees) feel they are on the leading

edge when it comes to lead nurturing strategies. However, 57 percent of

large enterprises (500+ employees) and 81 percent of SMBs (less than 100

employees) believe they have built a good foundation for their nurturing

efforts, but still have a lot of optimization ahead of them.

In this white paper, we’ll explore the variety of techniques that modern

marketers are using to reach and engage their targeted prospects, using

survey data to illustrate where marketers are paving the way and where they

are falling short. We’ll also discuss how marketing technologies that support

lead nurturing across multiple channels can help the marketing department

overcome its existing shortfalls to develop a streamlined and effective lead

nurturing process that converts more leads into sales.

Very important - we couldn’t live

without it

Somewhat important - we have a few

nurturing campaigns running

Not very important- we focus primarily

on new lead generation

6%20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

58%

35%

Hitting a Wall with Email MarketingMost B2B marketers use email marketing as a key strategy for nurturing

existing leads through the sales pipeline. They frequently use email to

send targeted content and promotional offers to specific segments of

contacts in their databases, with the goals of nurturing these existing leads,

encouraging conversions, and ultimately generating sales. It is easy for

marketers to track email open and click-through rates, providing measurable

metrics. Because marketers can keep track of email ROI, they often lean on

this marketing strategy heavily.

But while email marketing is an invaluable tool for communicating with

known prospects, marketers should consider pushing beyond email as a

standalone strategy. Email marketing is subject to numerous limitations,

including:

Email marketing only reaches known prospects.

Because email marketing relies on having access to prospects’

email addresses, it’s only possible to reach a small fraction of

your potential audience with this method. This marketing

tactic provides no opportunity to engage with the much larger

audience of anonymous prospects who may have visited your

website.

Your email marketing database may not be accurate.

Just 5 percent of B2B buyers said that they are willing to

provide detailed information in a gated content offer form.3

Your email marketing database likely has significant omissions

and errors regarding your leads’ contact information.

3 “2013 B2B Content Preferences Survey,” DemandGen Report, 2013.

Only a fraction of your subscribers are reading your emails.

Every message you send to your email list falls largely on

deaf ears. Seventy-nine percent of marketers surveyed

say their email open rates don’t exceed 20 percent on average.

That means your email nurturing efforts are failing to reach

80 percent of your known prospects—along with all of your

anonymous prospects.

Only a small percentage of email subscribers ultimately convert.

Bizo’s survey also found that 45 percent of marketers believe

only 1-4 percent of known contacts in their databases

ultimately convert into marketing qualified leads.

Less than 1 percent

1-4percent

5-9percent

10 percentor more

Not sure

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

6%

45%

18%

51%

21%

11%

Question: On average, what percentage of known contacts in your database do you estimate ultimately convert into marketing qualified leads?

These low conversion rates illustrate that email marketing alone is an

inefficient method for driving sales. By neglecting other marketing avenues,

marketers who focus on email marketing are failing to effectively optimize

their companies’ marketing budgets—and missing out on many more

lucrative avenues for reaching target prospects.

The Anonymous Website Visitor: An Untapped OpportunityB2B companies typically receive hundreds—or even thousands—of visitors

to their business websites each day. But, as survey results show, only a small

fraction of prospects ever fill out a conversion form.

1-5 percent

6-10percent

10 percentor more

Not sure

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

44%

5%

27%24%

These anonymous website visitors represent a huge pool of targeted

prospects. However, in the absence of a way to contact them directly, it is

impossible to engage with these prospects through traditional methods like

email marketing.

With the advent of sophisticated new technologies, that’s beginning to

change. Today, marketers can—and must—nurture leads through multiple

Question: On average, what percentage of anonymous visitors to your website do you estimate ultimately convert by supplying their email address?

channels in order to increase their revenue contributions to the business

organization. Developing a multi-channel lead nurturing strategy can

incorporate traditional formats such as email marketing, as well as strategies

involving display and social advertising, in order to tap into valuable

anonymous prospects.

The Current State of Marketing AutomationMarketing automation software platforms can help B2B marketers streamline

their lead nurturing process by delivering targeted content to prospects

based on factors such as demographic profile, online behavior, and sales

process stage.

Many marketers have already embraced the concept of marketing

automation—such technology is currently being used by 72 percent of B2B

marketers. Additionally, 82 percent of marketers plan to maintain or increase

their spend on marketing automation technology and solutions throughout

the second half of 2014.

Yes No

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

72%

28%

Question: Are you currently using a marketing automation platform for lead nurturing?

This technology has already proven to be valuable to organizations’ bottom

lines: A recent Forrester report found that B2B marketers who incorporate

marketing automation tools have increased their sales-pipeline contribution

by 10 percent.4

The initial wave of marketing automation platforms focused primarily on

email marketing, enabling companies to send targeted emails to prospects

within their contact databases based on specific timetables, segmentation

data, or previous responses.

However, the technology is quickly evolving, opening up new possibilities to

reach both known and unknown prospects through marketing automation

across a variety of digital channels.

The Future of B2B Lead Nurturing: Adopting a New Way to Engage Prospects Across Multiple Marketing ChannelsSuccessful B2B marketers believe in the value of delivering the right

message to the right prospect at the right time. However, although

organizations are incorporating some marketing automation tools into

their marketing programs, many have not yet embraced the full potential

of multi-channel lead nurturing. Only 30 percent of marketers believe that

their programs, content, and messaging are well integrated across multiple

marketing channels.

4 Forrester Research, “The Forrester Wave™: Lead-To-Revenue Management Platform Vendors, Q1 2014,” hJanuary 2014.

According to our survey, 44 percent of marketers believe that, in addition

to other channels, display advertising plays an important role in nurturing

leads through the sales funnel. What’s more, marketers are ready to move

beyond their reliance on email marketing and make multi-channel nurturing

a reality for their organizations: 89 percent of marketers would be interested

in technologies that support the ability to nurture anonymous and known

prospects without using email.

Today, there is tremendous opportunity for marketers to reach new

prospects and nurture leads wherever they may be online by complementing

the traditional email nurturing channel with effective nurturing through

display and social advertising. Marketers no longer need to give up on

prospects who don’t fill out contact forms—sophisticated technologies

that allow marketers to identify and nurture both anonymous and known

prospects already exist, and are being used by leading organizations to

expand their reach and nurture more leads through the sales pipeline. By

embracing a multi-channel lead nurturing strategy, marketers can now take

advantage of opportunities for reaching and connecting with all target

prospects wherever they are on the web.

Veryinterested

Somewhatinterested

Notinterested

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

45%44%

11%

Question: How interested would you be in a technology that allowed you to nurture anonymous and known prospects without using email?

MethodologyIn May 2014, Bizo surveyed 505 B2B marketing professionals about

their lead nurturing processes and strategies. Companies of all sizes

were represented in the survey: Nearly 23 percent of responses came

from companies with less than 100 employees; 41 percent came from

organizations with 100 and 500 employees; and over 36 percent of

responses came from companies with more than 500 employees.

Of the respondents, 47 percent are in marketing director or manager

functions; 24 percent are marketing associates; nearly 6 percent are CMOs

or marketing VPs; and 2 percent are CEOs. Marketing agency functions were

also represented, with 17 percent of respondents in agency roles.

Respondents from a variety of industries were represented: Consumer

service-based companies comprised nearly 25 percent of all respondents,

with software companies contributing to over 16 percent of the total, and

business services and manufacturing companies each contributing more

than 7 percent.

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